Sign Up | Log In
REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
Whale Kills Trainer at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 12:10 PM
NIKI2
Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...
Quote:Eyewitnesses Watched 12,000 Pound Whale Attack Female Trainer A female trainer was killed by a 12,000 pound killer whale at SeaWorld's Shamu Stadium in Orlando, Fla., according to police and local media. Eyewitnesses told ABC News affiliate WFTV the trainer was pulled into the tank at Shamu Stadium sometime after 2:00 p.m. The whale responsible for the attack is a bull, or male, named Tilikum. He has lived at the park since 1992, and is one of eight killer whales there. "Currently deputies with the full cooperation of SeaWorld have secured the scene and Homicide Detectives have been requested to respond and conduct a death investigation follow-up, along with our Forensics Unit," said Capt. Angelo Nieves of the Orange County Sheriff's Office in a statement. One witness, park visitor Victoria Biniak, told WFTV that the trainer was just introduced the whale during a live public show at the stadium. Soon after, Biniak said, the whale came up from the water and grabbed the woman. "He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent,'" Biniak said. The whale "took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off," she said. Visitors were evacuated and the park closed following the attack.
Quote:There have been several previous attacks on whale trainers at SeaWorld parks. In Nov. 2006, trainer Kenneth Peters, 39, was bitten and held underwater several times by a 7,000-pound killer whale during a show at SeaWorld's San Diego park. He escaped with a broken foot. The 17-foot-long orca who attacked him was the dominant female of SeaWorld San Diego's seven killer whales. She had attacked Peters two other times, in 1993 and 1999. In 2004, another whale at the company's San Antonio park tried to hit one of the trainers and attempted to bite him. He also escaped. In December, a whale drowned a trainer at a Spanish zoo. At the Orlando SeaWorld, the body of a naked man was found scratched, bruised and draped over a 5-ton orca named Tilikum in July 1999. Daniel Dukes, 27, reportedly made his way past security at SeaWorld, remaining in the park after it had closed. Wearing only his underwear, Dukes either jumped, fell or was pulled into the frigid water of Tilikum's huge tank. An autopsy ruled that he died of hypothermia in the 50-degree water. But they also said it appeared Tilikum bit the man and tore off his swimming trunks, likely believing he was a toy to play with.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 12:24 PM
FREMDFIRMA
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 2:19 PM
KWICKO
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 6:05 PM
PIRATENEWS
John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:18 PM
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 8:31 PM
GINOBIFFARONI
Quote:Originally posted by Niki2: They're called that because they are predators, asshole, the only whale species that preys on warm-blooded animals...like, you kow, lions, snakes, alligators and tigers. Duh! Supposedly this whale had never worked with humans, so I'm not sure how she grabbed the trainer, unless the trainer was standing near a holding tank or something. I'll be interested to hear more, what we're getting now is kinda scrambled. BUT the whale has two deaths on her, one in Canada and one where some idiot snuk in after hours. I should think that would have been enough to retire the animal or something; if she had access in any way to grabbing humans, that's just irresponsible.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 3:35 AM
HERO
Quote:Originally posted by Niki2: I'll be interested to hear more, what we're getting now is kinda scrambled.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 3:54 AM
JONGSSTRAW
Thursday, February 25, 2010 4:43 AM
PIZMOBEACH
... fully loaded, safety off...
Thursday, February 25, 2010 6:27 AM
BYTEMITE
Thursday, February 25, 2010 7:03 AM
Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:21 AM
Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:01 PM
Quote:Originally posted by Niki2: Supposedly this whale had never worked with humans
Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:14 PM
AURAPTOR
America loves a winner!
Quote:Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
Thursday, February 25, 2010 1:29 PM
Quote:Originally posted by Bytemite: I was going to post this in the thread about dolphin intelligence (though technically, I don't think dolphins and orcas are in the same family). I'm trying to determine whether my belief in most animals qualifying as non-human persons means I think the Orca should be charged with a crime and sentenced. It's lunatic, yet no other conclusion is logically internally consistent. But yes, I agree that this could be considered cruel, and that a person climbing into a pool with an unpredictable predator is kind of asking for it. The Revolution... It begins.
Friday, February 26, 2010 8:52 AM
Friday, February 26, 2010 6:50 PM
Quote:The killer whale that drowned a veteran trainer was just curious about her ponytail and dragged her into the water to investigate a new toy, the former head of animal training at SeaWorld Orlando said Friday. Famous last video Thad Lacinak, who helped train Dawn Brancheau, said she was very good but made a mistake by lying down on a watery shelf next to the 12,000-pound animal and letting her long hair get in front of the 22-foot orca named Tilikum - the largest killer whale in captivity. "She was an excellent trainer, one of the best I've seen in my life ... But allowing her ponytail to drift into the water like that in front of the animal turned out to be a fatal mistake," Lacinak, who left SeaWorld in 2008 after a long career to start a consultancy, told The Associated Press. A killer whale approaches Dawn Brancheau, seconds later she was dragged underneath the water Lacinak said he'd been told how the attack happened by other trainers who were at the scene Wednesday, when Tilikum dragged Brancheau into the water as she gave him pats and other rewards after a midday show. Based on their description, he said the rules for handling the giant orca that were in place during his tenure had either been broken or changed. There were special protocols for handling Tilikum because of the animal's size and involvement in two earlier deaths. Tilikum was one of three orcas blamed for killing a trainer in 1991 at a theme park near Victoria, British Columbia. In 1999, the body of a naked man was found draped over Tilikum at SeaWorld. Officials said the man had stayed in the park after closing, apparently fell into the whale tank and died of hypothermia, but was also bitten by Tilikum. It was playful curiosity, Lacinak said, and not a bloodthirsty attack. Brancheau's ponytail was merely a "novelty item" to the whale, who was not trained to be in the water with people. The park says Tilikum will not be destroyed, transferred or released and that he is an important member of the eight-whale pod. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100226/D9E40IK80.html
Saturday, February 27, 2010 12:11 AM
HKCAVALIER
Quote:Originally posted by Bytemite: I was going to post this in the thread about dolphin intelligence (though technically, I don't think dolphins and orcas are in the same family). I'm trying to determine whether my belief in most animals qualifying as non-human persons means I think the Orca should be charged with a crime and sentenced. It's lunatic, yet no other conclusion is logically internally consistent.
Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:33 AM
Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:47 AM
Saturday, February 27, 2010 6:55 AM
Quote: Not that that's a good thing, or a lawful sentence. Slavery for humans used to be legal too. 55-million US citizens have been genocided since 1973, when US Supreme Court legalized genocide in Roe v Wade.
YOUR OPTIONS
NEW POSTS TODAY
OTHER TOPICS
FFF.NET SOCIAL